


After All

by hawkeyedpeas (pandacowhipster)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dimension Travel, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-04 01:31:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5315171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandacowhipster/pseuds/hawkeyedpeas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a breach suddenly opens up months after they've closed them all, the STAR Labs team is rightfully concerned, at least until they find out who crossed over, then it's just weird.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After All

“It was an accident,” Barry says as soon as he speeds back into the lab after a call.

Cisco turns to ask what he’s talking about, but immediately sees. The top of his suit’s barely hanging on, the entire left sleeve reduced to a few smoking scraps of fabric.

Cisco takes a deep breath through his nose, “I know you're more chem than bio, but you know a few things right?”

“Yeah?” Barry says tentatively.

“So then, you know that these suits do not, in fact, grow on trees, yes?”

Barry winces, “I’m sorry! I was on fire.”

“What?” Caitlin and Iris say at the same time.

“Oh he’s fine,” Cisco says, gesturing to Barry’s unmarred skin, “my baby, however, is trashed.”

“I’m really sorry,” Barry says, batting his big bambi eyes.

Cisco glares but quickly deflates, “well just hope no crime happens in the few hours it’ll take me to patch everything up,” he yanks the remains of Barry’s top off him and clutches it protectively.

An alarm sounds back at Cisco’s desk.

“For real?” Barry says.

Caitlin pulls the alert up on her own computer, “um… Cisco?”

Cisco runs over to her monitor to see what’s wrong, “a breach?” He can feel the collective tension spread through the room. Given what the breachers and Zoom put them all through, it’s completely warranted. They’ve been lucky enough in the months since they closed the breaches in that they’ve only had to deal with metas and criminals from their own universe.

“I thought you closed them all,” Iris says.

“So did I, Cisco says, scanning the readings as fast as possible, “there’s something weird about it, the energy signature’s off.”

“I’ll go check it out,” Barry says.

“In what suit?” Iris asks.

Barry falters, looking down at his bare chest.

“Change into your regular clothes,” Cisco says, “it’s only like a block away, we can check it out together. I need to get some more readings on it anyway and I don’t trust you with my stuff today.”

“What about you guys?” Cisco asks while Barry speeds out of the room and back in, now dressed in his civilian clothes. “Up for a field trip?”

The breach is in the back of an alley away from any foot traffic, thankfully. Though It looks like it’s slowly widening.

“Is it just me, or is this portal more… pink than the others?” Caitlin says, keeping a safe distance from it, Iris right beside her.

Barry, lacking the same self preservation instincts, steps closer, “Yeah, it doesn’t seem like—” he’s cut off when someone comes flying out of the breach, crashing into Barry and knocking them both to the ground. The breach quickly closes behind them.

The breacher’s wearing a mask and goggles over half their face, which they quickly rip off at the sight of Barry.

“Cisco?” Barry says, eyes wide.

“What are you doing here?” The other Cisco asks, before kissing Barry, full on the mouth.

“What the hell...” Cisco says.

The other Cisco rolls off of Barry and startles when he meets eyes with Caitlin, “Barry get behind me,” he holds a hand up at Caitlin, “What Frost? You break out of prison just for a much needed makeover? I’m sure it’ll be a big hit at Belle Reve once I blast your ass back there.”

“Okay seriously, what the hell?” Cisco repeats.

His doppleganger turns toward him, and double takes, “you can say that again.”

—

They get the other Cisco back to STAR labs after assuring him that Cailin isn’t a crazed super villain. They also explain the breaches and the whole ‘infinite earths’ thing.

He’s kicking his feet idly as he sits on a bed in the infirmary while Caitlin checks his vitals. He turns to Barry, “so in this universe, or timeline or whatever, you’re the Flash? My Barry’s gonna flip.”

“Wait who’s the Flash in your world?”

“Are you kidding? Other earth or not, she’d kick my ass if I spilled her secret identity.”

Cisco steeples his fingers, “so in your world, Barry’s not a meta, the Flash is a woman, I’m a certified badass,” he pauses to fistbump himself, “and Cait’s evil? Glad to know our world’s not the only ridiculous one.”

“How did you come through the breach anyway?” Iris asks, “I mean you’re not from Earth-2 like Jay or Zoom.”

“Well, last I remember, Jinx—super villain—was robbing a bank and I blasted her right as she blasted me, next thing I know I’m landing on top of Barry. Sorry about that by the way, didn’t mean to homewreck myself.”

“Say what?” Barry and Cisco say at the same time.

“Oh… are you guys not—my bad, I just assumed…” he frowns, and looks down at his hands.

“Don’t worry dude,” Barry says, putting a hand on the other Cisco’s shoulder, “we’ll figure out how to get you back home.”

“So how are we supposed to tell you and Cisco apart?” Iris asks.

“Good question,” Caitlin agrees, looking between the two of them like she’s playing a spot the difference game.

Cisco’s already spotted all of them. His double’s out of his uniform and into some of Cisco’s own clothes that Barry snagged from his apartment, so it’s a little harder to tell, but the other Cisco’s hair is longer and it looks like he hasn’t shaved as recently Cisco has. He also has a small scar on the left side of his jaw.

“Easy,” Cisco says. He pulls a hair tie off his wrist and offers it to the other Cisco who takes it and pulls his hair up into a messy bun.

“Also you can’t both be Cisco, it’s confusing,” Barry points out.

“Dibs on Vibe!” the other Cisco shouts.

“Damn it,” Cisco says, “you’re lucky you’re cute.”

They beam at each other and Cisco catches Iris rolling her eyes fondly.

“If his codename’s Vibe too, does that mean you two have the same powers?” Caitlin asks.

“Maybe,” Vibe says, “what are yours?”

“I can see through the vibrations of multiple universes and get visions of things that happen on my earth and other earths, usually I need to touch something to vibe off it, but sometimes I just get random visions at inconvenient moments. You?”

“I had a bit of an accident with a boom tube—an extra dimensional portal thingy—and I kinda started vibrating between physical planes and now I can channel those vibrations into, like, energy blasts.”

“That is so much cooler than mine,” Cisco says.

“And it explains why he took the whole multiple earths thing so well,” Iris says.

“Once you fight a dimension hopping parademon, not much phases you,” Vibe says with a shrug.

—

Everyone agrees the best course of action is for Vibe to just stick with Cisco for the time being. Cisco doesn’t mind of course, he’s always enjoyed his own company, the only difference is now when he talks to himself, he gets an answer.

They’re sitting on the small balcony off of Cisco’s apartment, splitting a six pack when Cisco finally brings it up.

“So you and Barry huh?”

Vibe ducks his head, Cisco thinks he’s actually blushing, “yeah, me and Barry.”

“Well go on,” Cisco says bumping their shoulders together, “how’d you meet?”

“Well, after the accident, I ended up at Mercury Labs. They did all kinds of tests on me, helped me get a handle on my powers and everything. Anyway, Barry was working there as a chemist, he didn’t really work with me, my powers are more physics, but I’d seen him around the lab a few times and well, you know what he looks like.

“And of course I’m not about to ask one of his coworkers about him, so I’m just pining away, you know, convinced he wouldn’t even like me anyway. Then one day, I’m at the grocery store and I was trying to grab a bag of chips of the top shelf—and I totally could have reached them, just saying—but then, who grabs them and hands them to me, but Barry. We get to talking, well, grinning at each other like idiots with some talking in between, but then I mention I’m planning on making nachos and somehow managed to invite him over and he said yes. Turns out he’d had a crush on me too and we’ve been together ever since.”

“Oh my God, you had a meet-cute,” Cisco says, “how are you living a legit romcom?”

Vibe shrugs and takes a sip from his bottle, “just lucky, I guess.”

“Please stop before you give me an actual cavity. I can’t believe I’m such a sap in your world.”

“Hey, don’t hate,” Vibe says, looking smug. He brushes his hair away from his face, “it’s so weird to me that you and Barry never… y’know. Are you not—”

“I’m bi,”Cisco confirms. He sighs, “and, full disclosure, I did kinda have a crush on him when we first met, he was pretty adorable.”

“What happened?”

“Well he was in love with Iris at the time and then after that, a string of other freakishly gorgeous and talented women, so I figured I wasn’t exactly his type. Now he’s pretty much my best friend besides Caitlin.”

“If you say so,” Vibe says, looking out at the skyline. “It’s just hard to imagine a world where I could meet Barry and not love him.”

“What did I tell you about cavities?” Cisco says, but he slings an arm across Vibe’s shoulder anyway.

—

“Okay you two, I want a good, clean fight,”Cisco says.

“Very clean,” Caitlin interjects, “we just want to get a sense of Vibe’s powers, not destroy the lab.”

Barry and Vibe are facing each other, both in workout gear. Vibe’s stretching and Barry’s just smirking with his arms crossed. Cisco narrows his eyes, normally he’d insist Barry could take down anyone, but he can’t help but want to root for his other self.

He leans over to Vibe, “psst, he never checks his six. Also aim for his feet.”

Cisco backs up until he’s up against the wall where Caitlin is and puts on his best Mortal Kombat voice, “Flash… Vibe… Ready? Fight!”

Vibe shoots a blast at Barry who dodges, but it’s still something to see—the air around Vibe’s hand sort of ripples and glows before a shockwave shoots across the room, leaving a crack in the wall. Vibe lowers his hand and tracks Barry, who’s zig-zagging around the room.

Cisco sees the opening the same time Vibe does, Barry’s running is starting to form a pattern and he correctly guesses where Barry’s going to be and shoots a vibration at the floor. It catches Barry’s feet and sends him skidding into the wall.

Cisco whoops and punches the air.

“Who’s side are you on?” Barry asks, standing and dusting himself off.

“It was a very conflicted ‘whoo’?”

Caitlin clears her throat.

“Oh, right,” Barry says and charges at Vibe to deliver a much more tame version of his super sonic punch.

Vibe jumps up and uses a shockwave to take him higher so he can leap over Barry. He tucks and rolls when he hits the ground and shoots a blast at Barry’s back.

When Barry recovers he shudders, “dude that is so weird,” he shakes his hands like that might rid him of the sensation, “it’s like someone’s vibrating all my stuff for me.”

“Bruh, that is literally what’s happening,” Vibe says.

“I know, I just prefer to do my own vibrating.”

“Phrasing,” both Cisco’s say at once.

“You’re one to talk, Vibe,” Caitlin mutters under her breath, “we should run a few more tests, your powers were almost certainly involved with you winding up here, the better we understand them the easier it’ll be figure out how to get you back home.”

“I have a theory about that actually,” Cisco says, ignoring the slight to his very cool and amazing codename, “you said you got your vibration powers from a dimensional portal, right? So, what if you somehow vibrated from your world to ours.”

“But I’ve never done that before, not even when I first got my powers, I was just between dimensions, and only for a second.”

“You said you were fighting someone before you came through the breach,” Barry says.

“Yeah, Jinx.”

“Does she have powers?” Cisco asks.

“Yeah like, uh, probability manipulation.”

“Okay, first, perfect name,” Cisco says, “second, do you think she could have skewed the probability of you accidentally vibing yourself out of the dimension?”

“I’m not sure she even knows the specifics of my powers.”

“What if she wasn’t going for specifics?” Caitlin posits, “what if she just wanted your powers to screw up and it just so happened to send you here?”

“Even if you’ve never done it before, vibing into a new universe must have been a potential outcome,” Cisco says, lighting up.

“Fascinating,” Caitlin says, looking Vibe over.

“Does that mean you can get me home?”

Cisco scoffs, “bro, I built a time machine, gimme a couple days and I got you.”

“Can you build another speed canon without Dr. Stein?” Caitlin asks.

“I’m not making a speed canon,” Cisco says, a smile spreading across his face, “I’m gonna make a boom tube.”

—

Cisco’s had a blissful few months since they closed the breaches, no visitors from another dimension meant his vibes have become few and far between. Though it’s not a sensation he’s likely to ever forget. So, when Vibe comes up behind him at his desk and places a hand on his shoulder, Cisco has just enough time to recognize a vibe coming on and think, ‘oh crap’.

He’s gotten better at getting his bearings once his visions start, that way he doesn’t miss any important information. He’s in an apartment, in the kitchen, there’s the remains of what looks like dinner on the table and an open bottle of wine.

He hears someone sigh and turns around.

Barry—Vibe’s Barry if the shorter haircut is anything to go on—is sitting on the couch, looking up at the ceiling. Cisco walks toward him, he’s wondering how current this vision is when he stops short.

Now that he’s rounded the couch he can see his—Vibe’s head bobbing up and down in Barry’s lap, and apparently doing a good job seeing how Barry keeps letting out these little noises, soft gasps and moans. He watches Barry slide his fingers through Vibe’s hair, keeping it out of his face for him.

“Babe, babe—Cisco,” Barry says between rapid breaths.

Vibe hums, not stopping.

Barry starts muttering something Cisco can’t quite decipher, and just when Cisco thinks he should probably be looking away, Barry fists his hand tighter in Vibe’s hair and shudders, his head falling back against the couch..

“Jesus, Cisco.”

Vibe gets up and settles himself in Barry’s lap. He wipes his mouth and grins, “happy birthday.”

“Very happy,” Barry agrees and pulls Vibe in for a kiss.

“—okay?” Vibe—the real life, non-psychic-blow-job-vision Vibe—shakes Cisco’s shoulder, “bro!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cisco says, batting his hand away, vibing off him once was more than enough thanks.

“Did you get a vibe?” Caitlin asks looking slightly concerned from across the lab.

“Off of me?” Vibe asks, “what did you see?”

Cisco hopes he’s not blushing, “uh, just you and Barry in the lab, making eyes at each other, nothing special.”

Vibe crosses his arms, “hey, what we have is very special.”

“Yeah,” Cisco says, “I got a real sense of your connection.”

Vibe gives him an odd look but shrugs it off and wanders over to Caitlin’s desk to see what she’s doing.

Cisco scrubs his hands against his face and grabs the mic, “how we looking, Flash?” There had been a small explosion at a gas station and luckily enough Barry had been across the street at the time, the Flash coming to the rescue before anyone had even dialled 911.

“On my way to you now.”

Cisco sits back in his chair and waits for the tell-tale whooshing that always signals Barry’s arrival.

“Are we sure Jinx didn’t kill me, because I’m pretty sure this is what heaven looks like.” Vibe says, giving Barry a thorough once over when he enters the lab in his uniform.

Barry turns almost as red as his suit at the attention.

Vibe holds his hands up apologetically, “sorry, sorry, I’m so used to hitting on my Barry it’s almost like a reflex at this point... It’d be inappropriate to ask for a picture right?”

Caitlin stifles a snort of laughter.

“The uh… I put the fire out, got everyone out safe,” Barry says, fidgeting.

“And you didn’t even singe my suit,” Cisco applauds, hoping to alleviating some of Barry’s self consciousness and maybe some of his own too.

“Speaking of,” Vibe says, “would you consider maybe tricking out my suit like that? I’m not quite as smart as you are, but Caitlin showed me the specs while you were working on it and what I did understand was incredible, dude.”

Cisco puts a hand over his chest, “it would be an honor and a privilege.”

Vibe beams and wraps his arms around Cisco, “thank you! You, sir, are amazing.”

“You want a room there, Narcissus?” Caitlin asks, raising her eyebrow.

“Technically we have one,” Cisco points out.

“And I resent the implications you’re making,” Vibe adds, “we only spooned.”

Barry cracks up at that, while Caitlin just looks up like she’s asking God what she did to deserve this.

—

Cisco’s down in his workshop tinkering with some stabilizers that should help concentrate and direct the flow of Vibe’s blasts, making them stronger. It’d probably be easier if Vibe were there to test them out, but he’ll just have to make do on his own for now.

“Yo,” Barry says, sauntering in.

“Sup man?” Cisco says, setting the stabilizers down to face his friend.

“Wait, are you my Cisco?”

“Always and forever,” Cisco says, he realizes Barry asked because he put his hair up while he was working. He tugs his ponytail loose and shakes his hair out, “there we go. See?”

“Where is Vibe anyway?” Barry asks.

“Out for drinks with Caitlin, we both felt like we needed to be by ourselves without ourself, y’know. Plus he loves Cait so,” Cisco shrugs.

“Oh, my bad, I didn’t know you wanted to be alone, I’ll just—” he starts to walk backwards out of the workshop.

“No, you’re fine. It wasn’t so much being alone as being away from him. Even I’m not vain enough to enjoy being in my own pocket 24/7.”

“You sure?”

“Seriously dude, I could use both the company and a break.” Cisco wipes his hands off, “Jitters?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Jitters is fairly empty which makes sense, considering it’s a Saturday night. They grab a booth in the back anyway in the likely event they end up talking about super stuff.

“This whole Vibe thing, it’s weird right?” Barry says once they’re sitting with their drinks.

Cisco’s about to chime in with his thoughts on them dating in a parallel universe when Barry continues.

“It’s so weird there’s a world where you’re the hero and I’m the scientist.”

“Right. Super weird.” Cisco fusses with his cup, “I don’t know if I’d have it in me, even if I did have more active powers.”

“You already have it in you,” Barry says, “I’ve seen it. Trust me, you’re a hero, powers or not.”

Cisco ducks his head, “well, you’re the expert here.”

“Not to mention, Vibe’s no where near as smart as you are so… there.”

Cisco smiles, “glad to know I’m your favorite me.”

“No competition,” Barry says, clinking his mug against Cisco’s. “So what’s it like? Meeting another you? I mean I met another Flash, but he wasn’t me.”

“It’s kinda weird, but also kinda cool? Just seeing where we match up and where we don’t.”

“I thought you only spooned,” Barry says, smirking.

Cisco rolls his eyes, “you’re hilarious. Like, okay, he’s not an engineer, but we both love Scotty on Star Trek. Also, he’s allergic to peanuts. It’s a bunch of weird little things like that.” Cisco says, not mentioning the most obvious difference being that in his world, Vibe is dating Barry. “Makes me wonder what Earth-2 Cisco is like, and all the others too.”

“Really? I can barely manage my own life, thinking about all the other potential lives I could have gives me a headache.”

“Yeah, but it makes you wonder,” Cisco says leaning in, “is there a universe where I’m rich and also married to Gillian Anderson?”

Barry laughs, “I’m sure she and Earth-37 Cisco are very happy together.”

“Lucky bastard,” Cisco says, shaking his head.

“Well I, for one, am glad about the way your life turned out, and not just ‘cause I’d be dead ten times over without you.”

“Aw, c’mon Bear,” Cisco says, “it’s way more than ten.”

“Oh that’s how it is?”

“Hey, I call ‘em like I save ‘em from certain doom.”

“Well as thanks, how about I get you a refill?” Barry says, grabbing his and Cisco’s cups before heading back up to the counter.

Cisco picks up his phone and checks his texts, there’s a couple pictures from Caitlin, where she and Vibe seem to be increasingly drunk in each new photo. He saves them all, partly because they’re cute and partly for future blackmail purposes.

‘Don’t get me banned from any bars,’ he texts back. He pockets his phone and looks to where Barry is ordering their coffee, the barista is clearly charmed by him if all the hair flipping and grinning is any indication. He wouldn’t be surprised if there was a whole club dedicated to people who have been hung up on Barry Allen at one point or another.

The funny thing is, Barry doesn’t even know it. Poor guy only has eyes for whatever stunning woman he’s currently head over heels for. Probably for the best anyway, he can’t imagine what would happen if someone used that kind of cuteness for evil.

It’s funny that Vibe’s Barry seems to be just as unknowingly charming, must be in his DNA.

He’s pulled from his thoughts when Barry returns with their coffees.

“You okay?” Barry asks.

“Yep, just making a mental note to ask Caitlin whether she thinks charisma is a learned trait or a genetic one.”

“Oh no,” Barry groans, “last time you guys did this, you argued for a week over whether or not you could use GMO science to create blue raspberries.”

“Hey, I was right,” Cisco counters, “and you have a reprieve until whenever she sobers up. Which, given the texts I’ve been getting, may be a while.”

Barry grins, “I take it they’re having fun?”

“Sloppy drunk karaoke fun,” he confirms.

“We gotta go sometime,” Barry says, “I still haven’t seen your skills.”

“Yeah, no,” Cisco says, shaking his head, “one of the few things Caitlin remembers from that night you two went out, is that you can actually sing. I think my skills might not be up to your standards. Not to mention, you can’t get drunk so the embarrassment’s gonna be pretty one-sided.”

Barry full on pouts, “oh come on, please? No one ever wants to go out with me now that I can’t drink.”

“Oh stop with the face,” Cisco says, “I guess if I had to look ridiculous in front of someone, you’re not the worst choice.”

“Plus I’ve seen you look ridiculous plenty of times already,” Barry says.

“All right,” Cisco says, “that’s payback, that’s fair. But I want you to remember this the next time you wear the tread out of your shoes and need someone to fix them.”

“Only if you can overcome the urge to improve my suit.”

“Hey, joint custody,” Cisco says.

“I rest my case,” Barry says. “That suit’s the first thing you’d save in a fire.”

“Like hell, me is the first thing I’d save in a fire. Then I’d call you so you could save everything else and put the fire out.”

Barry barks out a laugh and then Cisco starts laughing too. He wonders if Barry’s thinking the same thing he is, that Barry’s always going to come to the rescue and that Cisco’s always going to patch him up afterward.

—

Cisco is strategically taking Vibe for burgers when he gets a text from Caitlin telling him everything’s ready. He sends back a quick ‘omw’ and pockets his phone.

“So I’ve got some good news,” Cisco says as they head back to his apartment.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve finished analyzing the energy signatures from where you breached into the dimension, which was not easy let me tell you, it’s a lot easier to study an extra dimensional portal when it stays open, but anyway, I’ve finally been able to isolate the pathways back to your earth.”

“Are you saying I can go home?” Vibe says, stopping in his tracks outside Cisco’s building.

“That is exactly what I’m saying, my handsome friend.” Cisco wraps an arm around Vibe’s shoulder and leads him inside. “The breach closed but it left behind an abnormality, the area’s more susceptible to being breached again. If we use the stabilizers I made you and hook you up to a vibrational amplifier—which I also built thank you very much—it’s still charging up right now but once it’s ready, we should be able to disrupt the—” Cisco realizes Vibe has that glazed ‘confused but supportive’ look his mom used to get when he would explain his science fair projects.

He sighs, “I’m gonna hook you up to a big ass battery and then you’re gonna punch a hole in the universe.”

“Oh,” Vibe says, “Sick.”

“Very, you’re going to make your own boom tube” Cisco says. He stops in front of his door and unlocks it, “oh and one more thing,” he opens the door.

“Surprise!” Everyone shouts when they step inside.

Caitlin’s had a spare key to his place ever since the Great Elder Scrolls Fiasco of 2012, so he told her to go ahead and set things up for Vibe’s going away party. From what Cisco can see, she’s set out a tasteful cheese plate and enough wine that even Barry might get buzzed, God bless her. She’s also invited Barry, Iris, and Linda—just a small gathering of friends who all know life threatening secrets about each other, the usual.

“We figured we couldn’t let you go home without a proper Earth-1 send off,” Caitlin says pulling Vibe into a hug.

“Oh man, thanks, you guys,” Vibe says.

“We should be the ones thanking you,” Barry says, “normally when people from other dimensions show up, they want me dead. This was a nice break.”

Vibe grins, “well, I did kinda kick your ass when we sparred.”

Barry scoffs, “I let you win.”

“Hey, we got time for a rematch before I go home,” Vibe says, squaring up to Barry, more flirtatious than challenging.

“Settle down guys,” Cisco says, checking an alert that just pinged on his phone, “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until after Barry handles a robbery at Central Jewelers.”

“A robbery?” Vibe says, “you feel like company?”

Barry shrugs, “why not?”

“Awesome!” Vibe says, running into Cisco’s bedroom where his new uniform is.

Barry changes into his Flash suit in a blur of lightning, “you ready yet?”

“Very funny,” Vibe calls, “but you’re not the only speedster I’ve worked with, I can pull off a quick change.” He comes out of the room a moment later in his gear. Cisco hooked him up with an undershirt made of a material similar to Barry’s suit and a pair of gloves with built in stabilizers. His mask and goggles are now bullet proof and have a more durable comm link installed for when he goes back home.

Iris wolf whistles at him and he strikes an over the top heroic pose.

“You ready?” Barry asks.

“Yeah, how exactly are we doing thi—” Vibe’s cut off when Barry scoops him up, bridal style.

There’s just enough time before Barry runs off for Cisco to catch the look of pure joy on Vibe’s face.

“Okay,” Linda says, “that’s gotta be weird for you right?”

Cisco pushes his hair back, “you have no idea.”

“Anyway,” Caitlin says, thankfully changing the subject, “who wants wine?”

Cisco shoots her a grateful look when he hands her a bottle opener and she winks back.

“We should really have a B team,” Iris says as Caitlin pours her a glass.

“For what?” Linda asks.

Iris take a long sip before continuing, “well, sure, Barry’s the fastest man alive, but even he can’t be in two places at once, what if like, the jewelry store’s being robbed but so is the bank?”

“You know that now that you’ve said that it’s gonna happen right?” Cisco says.

“She has a point though,” Caitlin says.

“I hate to break it to you guys but, we are the B team.” Cisco says, gesturing around the room, “all the other superheroes we’ve met have conveniently skipped town shortly after meeting us.”

Iris frowns at the realization, “we need to work on our people skills.”

“Yeah… I finished college before I could vote,” Cisco says, “socializing isn’t one of my strong suits.”

Iris clicks her tongue, “no one told you to be a little genius inventor prodigy.”

“Hey,” Cisco says, pointing at Iris, “genius invention patents pay my rent.”

Linda raises an eyebrow, “wait, seriously?”

“I work in a defunct science lab, how did you think I paid my bills?”

Linda shrugs, “what about you Caitlin?”

“She just robs banks,” Cisco jokes, knowing how Caitlin likes her privacy.

“You and Linda should start a club for people with evil alternate dimension selves,” Iris says.

Caitlin laughs, “yeah, well, you and Cisco can have a club for people who date Barry in other timelines.”

“Uh, I'm pretty sure dating Barry beats prison,” Cisco says.

“Well he hasn't crossed the line and dated a supervillain unlike some people, so I guess we'll never have someone who can compare the two.”

“Oh come on,” Cisco says, “I didn’t date her, we just flirted… and made out a couple times.”

“Wait, the first time was ‘under duress’,” Caitlin says, making air quotes, “you kissed her after that?” Caitlin asks.

Seeing that he’s unlikely to get help from Iris and Linda, who look like they’re watching an episode of the Real Housewives, Cisco quickly changes the subject, “anyway, how do you think Barry and Vibe are doing?”

“I don’t know,” Iris says, “I just pray they haven't destroyed the jewelry store. You and Barry cause enough damage when only one of you has superpowers.”

“Rude,” Cisco says, pouting at her. “Although, if I did have Vibe’s powers, we might have a shot as the B team.”

“You wanna talk shots,” Linda says, “put Iris in a suit. Girl’s got skills,” she makes finger guns and pretends to fire them.

Iris elbows her gently, “I do not.”

“Hey, you saved my life, that’s skills enough for me.” She leans heavily onto Iris as she refills her glass.

Iris smiles indulgently at her and pets her hair.

Cisco refills his own glass and wonders if Barry knows he’s probably gonna be the odd side out in that love triangle.

“I should get a gun,” Caitlin says suddenly.

Cisco cocks his head, “I’m sorry what?”

“I’ve been kidnapped like five times this year, I want a gun,” Caitlin gestures toward him with her glass, “Cisco, make me a gun.”

How many times does Barry have to get shot before we all agree I’m not supposed to make guns?”

“Seriously,” Iris agrees.

Caitlin rolls her eyes exaggeratedly, signaling that she’s officially tipsy, “fine, then fix the damn security system.”

“Uh, it’s a little hard when I don’t know what absurd power the meta of the week is going to have,” Cisco says, “I’m not that psychic.”

“What’s it like?” Linda asks, leaning forward, “your vibes?”

Cisco lets himself sink into the couch as he thinks of how to explain, “it’s like a lucid dream, you know, where you know you’re dreaming and none of this is really happening, but you still can’t control any of it or make yourself wake up. Only I’m not sleeping, I’m standing completely still with a stupid look on my face.”

Linda shudders, “sounds creepy.”

“Yeah, it’s a trip,” Cisco says and drains half his glass. He’d rather not think about his vibes right now, especially not when he could keep drinking and goofing around with a room full of adorable, giggly ladies.

They end up talking about work, only because their jobs tend to see more excitement than the average person’s. From there they talk about school and how Cisco almost blew up his junior high science lab.

Caitlin’s in the middle of a story about one of her weird professors from med school when Barry and Vibe get back.

“Seriously?” Barry says, surveying the scene. The four of them have migrated to floor and are sitting around the coffee table, unconsciously drifting toward where the wine and snacks are. They’re all doubled over laughing at Caitlin’s impression of her teacher, Linda is notably in tears.

“Did you guys really drink,” Vibe counts under his breath, “five bottles while we were gone?”

“We saved you some,” Caitlin says, offering Vibe an unopened bottle of moscato.

“Well in that case, judgement rescinded,” Vibe says, peeling off his visor and plopping down next to Caitlin.

Barry rolls his eyes and changes back into his normal clothes in the blink of an eye. He sits cross legged next to Cisco, and grabs the cheese plate.

“Dude, you’re bleeding,” Cisco says, noticing a scrape on Barry’s cheek.

“I am?”

“Yeah, hold on,” Cisco grabs a napkin and holds Barry still by the neck so he can blot away the blood.

Barry hisses slightly at the contact, “how’s it look?”

“Not bad now that I can actually see it,” Cisco says, “pretty sure you’ll live.”

 

Barry grins at him and Cisco feels something in his stomach flip. He probably needs to chill on the wine. He realizes he’s still holding onto Barry and lets him go, turning back to hear the rest of Iris’ story about how she almost got arrested while following a lead for her high school newspaper.

—

“So, the same amount of time’s passed in my universe as it has here right?” Vibe asks after everyone’s left. Barry’s done his designated speedster duty and ran all the girls home. They’re both in Cisco’s room now, laying on the bed.

“Yeah, I mean, I would assume so,” Cisco says.

Vibe winces, “I was afraid so. Barry’s gonna kill me, he probably thinks I’m dead... Ay dios, he thinks I’m dead and I’m gonna show up tomorrow with a hangover.”

“Chill, just tell him you’ve got… dimensional displacement sickness or something. Besides, he doesn’t think you’re dead.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because,” Cisco says, “if your Barry is anything like my Barry, then he’s never gonna give up on you.”

“Yeah?”

“He doesn’t have it in him,” Cisco says, “he’ll lose faith in himself every now and then but the rest of us? I could tell him I was gonna re-hang the moon and he’d believe I could do it.”

“You really love him huh?” Vibe says, “I don’t mean like me and my Barry, but you do love him.”

Cisco sighs, “well, it’s kinda hard to be presented with that much wide-eyed idealism and determination and not love him a little.”

“Trust me, I know,” Vibe says. “I’m gonna miss you bro.”

“Same here, too bad you can’t skype between dimensions.”

Vibe nudges him, “hey, if anyone could figure it out, it’d be you.”

“Let’s get you home first and then we’ll worry about transdimensional video chats.”

“Yeah,” Vibe says, yawning, “I guess a part of me just doesn’t wanna leave? I’ve kinda gotten attached to you dude.”

“Very understandable, I’m delightful.”

Vibe laughs softly, “I’m serious, you gonna be okay here all by your lonesome?”

“I’ll manage,” Cisco says, “It’s probably good for me, I’ve been keeping to myself a little, especially since I started getting my vibes. It’s been so easy talking to you, I forgot what it was like. Maybe now I’ll open up a little more around Cait and Barry.”

“They’re good people,” Vibe agrees, “Obviously it’s not hard to top my Caitlin Snow but, yours amazing. Not to mention, your Barry Allen’s the second best I’ve ever met.”

“Eh,” Cisco says, “agree to disagree on that one.”

They’re quiet for a while after that and Cisco is starting to doze when Vibe speaks again.

“Have you ever thought about it?”

“Hm?”

“I don’t wanna say settling down,” Vibe says, “it sounds way too adult, but you know, getting serious with someone? You never said you were seeing anyone, I mean, maybe it’s not your thing, I don’t know, but you ever thought about it?”

“I mean, vaguely, I guess, but not with like a specific person or anything. I’ve been pretty distracted these last couple years, first with the particle accelerator, then all the stuff with the metas. Plus, it's kinda hard to keep someone around when you might have to bail on them any second to go help save the city."

"Guess that does limit your options," Vibe agrees.

“Who knows? I could meet my true love in the dairy aisle next time I go for groceries.”

“Shut up,” Vibe says, nudging him again, “It’s not my fault my boyfriend is lanky and overly helpful, okay?”

“Yeah I don’t know who to blame for that,” Cisco says, “It’s funny, Henry and Joe and Iris are all very take-no-shit and then there’s Barry like apologizing when people bump into him.”

“Oh my God, yours does it too?”

“Are you kidding? If you aren’t robbing a bank or threatening hostages, Barry doesn’t have an assertive bone in his body.”

Vibe laughs into his pillow and Cisco falls asleep to a story about Barry getting berated by some old lady in mall.

—

“You ready?” Cisco asks once he finishes setting up everything in the alley where Vibe breached over.

Vibe rolls his shoulders, “you know it.” He’s back in his uniform, mask down in case he happens upon any civilians when he crosses back over. He’s also got a backpack containing a small care package from Cisco, just his stabilizers and other tech, along with the blueprints in case he ever needed to get any of it fixed and a few items of clothing Vibe seemed to like.

Vibe looks from Cisco, to Barry, to Caitlin, “well I guess this is goodbye, guys.”

Caitlin rushes forward and hugs him, hangover be damned, “I’m gonna miss you, there can never be enough Cisco Ramon.”

“Aw, Cait,” Vibe says, gesturing to Cisco, “you’re making us blush.” He places a hand on her cheek, “stay good, if you ever turned, you’d take over the world in a week,” He kisses her forehead and Cisco catches Caitlin wiping her eyes under her giant sunglasses.

Vibe moves on to Barry, “honestly?” He takes Barry by the shoulders, “there’s nothing I can really say without making it weird, so…” he stands on his tiptoes and kisses the corner of Barry’s mouth, “it was nice knowing this version of you.”

Barry hides his face in his hands but, Cisco can still see how red his ears are.

“And saving the best for last,” Vibe walks over to Cisco and bear hugs him, “for real, dude, take care of yourself.”

“I’m not the one running around fighting super powered criminals,” Cisco says.

“Yeah but you gotta admit,” Vibe says, finally pulling away, “the suit looks good on us.”

Cisco laughs and shakes his head. He leads Vibe over to where they’re going to open the breach. “This time things are gonna be more stable so after you go through, so you make sure we got you to the right place okay? Call your Barry or something, to make sure. If it’s your world, you throw this back through,” he hands Vibe a red rubber ball, “and we’ll close the breach. If it’s not, you get your ass back here and we go back to the drawing board.”

Vibe nods, “let’s do it.”

Cisco fastens the juiced up stabilizer to Vibe’s hand, “now, you’re gonna aim for that spot right there,” he points to a taped off x near the vibrational amplifier, “and blast as hard as you can.”

Cisco backs up as Vibe takes aim, the blast he shoots off is much bigger than ones from the test runs in the lab and it looks like it does the trick. The air starts wavering like it’s hot out before a breach rips open.

“It worked!” Cisco exclaims, “we made a boom tube.”

“Wish me luck,” Vibe says as he approaches the breach.

“Like you need it,” Barry says.

Vibe tosses a wave over his shoulder before jumping into the portal.

“How long will it hold up?” Caitlin asks.

“I don’t know, but I hope it’s long enough,” Cisco says, eyes still fixed on the spot where Vibe used to be. He’s not sure how long it takes, but he does know none of them so much as breath until the red ball comes bouncing back out.

“You did it! Caitlin says, pulling him into a hug and then wincing, “okay, now that Vibe’s home safe, my head is killing me.”

Cisco laughs as he begins to shut down the boom tube, “yeah, you had a pretty good time last night.”

“If that’s what you wanna call it,” Barry says and Caitlin shoots him a glare from behind her shades.

“All right, help me get this stuff into my car and then we can get Caitlin some caffeine before she really does go rogue.” Cisco says.

—

Things mostly go back to normal after they send Vibe home, granted, their version of normal tends to involve monsters and mayhem, but still.

Cisco does miss Vibe though, he’s got a photo on his desk of the two of them cheesing it up. He knows Caitlin has a photobooth strip from her night out with Vibe tucked away in her own desk.

The only thing that’s seemed to change is Barry, Cisco made good on his word to open up and spend more time with everyone, he and Caitlin now have a standing date every week to get Thai food and chill at her place and he’s even hung out with Iris and Linda a few times. But whenever Cisco tries to do something with Barry, he usually dodges—either he’s got work or a family thing or some other vague, hastily fabricated excuse. The dude is not a good liar

The few times he has gotten Barry to come along for things he’s been… off, distant. Cisco’s starting to worry, there must be something bothering him and Cisco wishes he’d just tell him what was going on.

Which is why he decides to take a more direct approach.

 

“Hey, you feel like kicking my ass at video games tonight?” Cisco asks as he packs up his things in the lab at the end of the day.

“Aw man, I can’t,” Barry says, “I gotta help Iris with a thing.”

“Oh,” Cisco says, not at all surprised, “I guess I’ll see what Linda’s up to then. She probably needs someone else to go with her, now.”

“Uh,” Barry falters, “go where?”

“To the movies,” Cisco says nonchalantly, “She told me she was gonna go out with Iris, but you said she’s busy tonight so, I figure Linda might want some company.” He pulls out his phone, and unlocks it.

Barry stops him before he can open his contacts, not that Cisco was actually going to call Linda.

“Actually,” Barry says, trying to recover, “you’re right, she is with Linda tonight, I think I got my days mixed up, Iris needs help with things tomorrow.”

“You sure?” Cisco asks.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Barry talks about work on the drive to Cisco’s apartment, telling him about weird crime scenes that didn’t even involve a meta. Cisco relaxes a little, Barry seems back to his normal self, maybe he’s just being paranoid and over analyzing things—it wouldn’t be the first time.

He’s feeling much better about things when they get up to his apartment and settle in. It’s short lived however, because after a few rounds of mindlessly shooting at each other, Cisco notices that Barry’s losing. Badly.

They’ve had nights where Barry was only allowed to use one hand, just to level the playing field. He’d apparently been good at video games even before super speed got added to the mix. Cisco can count on one hand the times he’s come out on top when they’ve played against each other.

Cisco sighs and hits pause. “All right,” he says, setting his controller on the coffee table and turning to face Barry, “what’s up?”

Barry glances around, “uh… just hanging out?”

Cisco rolls his eyes, “no, I mean what’s up with you?”

Barry laughs uncomfortably, “what? I’m fine.”

Cisco shoots him a look, “for real?” He gestures at the TV, “You have super reflexes, and you’re losing. You don’t wanna hang out, you don’t really talk to me anymore, I don’t what’s going on. You’ve been acting weird since—since,” Cisco falters, trying to remember when Barry started acting off, “I don’t know since Vibe went home, maybe before that?”

“Sorry,” Barry’s whole body droops and Cisco instantly feels like an asshole for putting that kicked puppy look on his face. “I didn't mean to shut you out, I’ve just had a lot of stuff on my mind, I don’t know,I guess I got distracted.”

Cisco scoots closer and leans in, “well, come on then, best friend sharing time.”

Barry laughs softly, “really?”

“Yeah, really,” Cisco says, “or do I have to remind you how bad things go any time one of us bottles something up?”

Barry scrubs a hand down his face, “honestly?” He takes a deep breath in, “I can’t stop thinking about kissing you.”

“Oh,” Cisco says, eyes wide, “I was expecting something more super villain related, but okay, we’re being open, we’re sharing. Continue.”

“Well, it’s not even you, really?” Barry says like he’s trying to backtrack, “I don’t know, Vibe kissed me and he kept talking about his Barry and all the flirting and I guess it just kind of got me thinking?”

“About kissing him?”

Barry shrugs.

“And have you thought about kissing dudes before or is this like a new thing?”

Barry rubs the back of his neck, “I mean, there were some guys in college, I never did anything, but I have thought about it.”

“Okay, then just kiss me,” Cisco says matter-of-factly, hoping it conceals how he’s kind of freaking out right now.

Barry blinks, “what?”

“Well, it’s how we test it. You kiss me, and depending on your reaction, we can figure out if it’s me or Vibe or maybe you just liked being flirted with since you and Patty ended it.”

“That sounds… scientific,” Barry says.

“Well we are scientists,” Cisco says, “so let’s go.”

“Okay… okay,” Barry says, but still doesn’t do anything.

“Oh my God,” Cisco says, grabbing the back of Barry’s neck, “come here.” He pulls Barry closer while he leans forward himself. Their lips connect and Cisco has to remind himself to move, after all, the test is useless if he doesn’t put any effort into it.

Barry’s not a bad kisser, a little tentative sure, but Cisco assumes that’s just because of the situation and it feels like he’s starting to relax. Not that Cisco has a problem taking the lead, it was his idea after all. He’s apparently doing something right though, because when he pulls back, intending to stop and ask Barry what he thinks, Barry follows him and pulls him back in by his shirt.

Turns out, kissing Barry Allen is pretty much as dreamy as Cisco expected it to be. He used to think about it sometimes, back when they first met, before he decided being best friends with Barry was better than crushing on him. Though, his imagination never predicted the surrealness of it. It’s weird because it doesn’t feel weird at all. Cisco knows there should be something awkward about making out with his best friend on his couch, but it just feels comfortable. That’s new for him too, usually Cisco has trouble ignoring the pressure he feels when it comes to the physical parts of relationships, like he has to be amazing or he’s going to ruin everything. It’s probably because he knows if Barry didn’t hate him for the cold gun or telling Snart his identity there’s no way he’d let something like a kiss come between him.

Cisco pulls back, putting his hand on Barry’s shoulder to keep him there.

“So,” he says, trying not to get distracted by Barry’s dilated pupils or long eyelashes, “verdict?”

Barry licks his lips, “it’s definitely you.”

“Awesome,” Cisco says, flashing a small crooked smile, “so, what now?”

“Now,” Barry says, brushing Cisco’s hair out of his face, “I ask you out on a date. We go to some fancy restaurant and feel really awkward before we decide to leave and grab a pizza instead, then we head back to your place and probably make out on the couch while watching a terrible sci fi movie.”

“You seem pretty confident I’d say yes to a date in the first place.”

Barry raises an eyebrow, “bro, you tried to use science as an excuse to kiss me.”

“See, ‘tried’ makes it sound like you didn’t totally go for it.”

Barry laughs, “are you gonna go out with me or what?”

“I dunno,” Cisco says, “that seems like a lot of work to get you on my couch when you’re already right here.” He repositions himself so he’s sitting pressed up against Barry’s side, “so, how about instead, we order a pizza, stay on the couch, and you try and reclaim your dignity out on the battlefield,” he says, tapping Barry’s controller.

“And where does _breakfast_ factor into that?” Barry asks.

“Tell you what,” Cisco says, poking Barry in the chest, “you finally beat me, and we’ll talk about breakfast.”

Barry lays his arm across Cisco’s shoulders, “sounds like a plan.”

Cisco grins, “assuming you’re not still too _distracted_ to give it your all.”

“I think I’ll manage,” Barry says, but he’s looking at Cisco’s lips.

Cisco grabs his controller and tucks himself back up against Barry’s side. “I just want you to know that I intend to play dirty,” he says and unpauses the game.

Barry leans over and kisses Cisco almost too fast for him to register, by the time Cisco focuses back on the game he’s already re-spawning.

“Oh I see how it is,” Cisco says. He waits until he sees Barry’s character and then puts a hand over Barry’s eyes so he can shoot him.

“So you’re full on cheating now?” Barry asks, pulling Cisco closer.

“Your face is cheating,” Cisco says before kissing Barry’s neck.

“Yeah?” Barry says, leaning his head back.

“Mhm,” Cisco sucks a bruise behind his ear, “it’s completely unfair.”

“Sorry,” Barry says, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

“Better be,” Cisco says, taking Barry by the chin and turning his head so he can kiss him on the lips.

They never finish the game, but they do end up getting breakfast.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [tumblr](http://queeraang.tumblr.com/) if you want


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